There is always room in our heads for something new. Especially if these are interesting facts. Let’s start with some of them:
Bacteria which can save humanity from the risk of drowning in polyurethane waste
There is a bacterium that eats plastic! It was found by German scientists. They came to the conclusion that this species appeared relatively recently: bacteria obviously evolved, learning to eat this seemingly inedible material.
Children have about 70 more bones than adults
Infants usially have approx. 270 bones, most of which are very small. This makes the skeleton more flexible and helps the baby pass through the birth canal and grow quickly. As the baby grows, many of these bones fuse together. The average adult skeleton consists of 200–213 bones.
People have become “colder” for the last 200 years
Scientists have revealed that the average body temperature of healthy people has dropped by almost 0.6 degrees over the past 200 years – from 37 °C to 36.4 °C.
20% of oxygen is produced in the Amazon tropical rainforest
The Amazon rainforest covers 5.5 mln sq km. The Amazon jungle produces a significant portion of the Earth’s oxygen, absorbing huge amounts of carbon dioxide, which is why it is often called the lungs of the planet.
Hawaii moves 7.5 cm towards Japan every year
The Earth’s crust consists of several huge parts – tectonic plates. These plates are constantly moving together with the upper layer of the mantle. The Hawaiian Islands are located on the Pacific Tectonic Plate. The Pacific Plate is moving slowly to the northwest. The Hawaiian Islands are moving about 7.4 cm towards Alaska and 10 cm towards Japan every year so it’s actually moving closer to Japan than Alaska. Tectonic plates move at the same speed as human’s fingernails grow.
Polar bears are almost impossible to detect with thermal imaging
Thermal imagers can detect an object by the heat it emits. And polar bears are experts at keeping warm. With a thick layer of subcutaneous fat and a warm coat, bears can survive even the coldest days in the Arctic.
Gastric juice can dissolve razor blades
The stomach digests food due to caustic hydrochloric acid with a high pH (hydrogen index) of 2-3. But at the same time, the acid also affects the mucous membrane of the stomach, which, however, is able to quickly recover. The mucous membrane of your stomach is completely renewed every 4 days.
A flea can accelerate faster than a space shuttle
Fleas can jump at mind-boggling heights of 8 cm per millisecond. Each jump gives the flea an acceleration 50 times greater than that of a spaceship.
Venus is the only planet that spins backwards
Scientists have many versions of why this happens. May be due to huge asteroids that affected its course in the past, or because of strong circulation of air currents in the upper layers of the atmosphere.
How much does a cloud weights?
One billion cubic meters times .5 gram per cubic meter equals 500 mln gr. Thus, the average cloud weighs about 500,000 kg, the same as 80 elephants.
What human and giraffe have in common?
A giraffe and a human have the same number of cervical vertebrae. The total number of cervical vertebrae in humans and giraffes is 7, but their proportions and sizes differ significantly.
Know-WOW
There was a time in modern history when Apple had more money in its accounts than the US government.
